Supporting means for a portable sluice



Oct. 27, 1953 Filed Oct. 25, 1948 w. THOMAS SUPPORTING -MEANS FOR A PORTABLE SLUICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1i Intuwlor Atlorney Oct. 27, 1953 w. THOMAS SUPPORTING MEANS FOR A PORTABLE SLUICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 25, 1948 Inwntor W/L 1. IA THO/IA 5 By W 4% Attorney Oct. 27, 1953 Filed Oct. 25, 1948 W. THOMAS SUPPORTING MEANS FOR A PORTABLE SLUICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 9 6 I I 6 5 I 6 I II/II/IMM/I/W/I I Inventor Oct. 27, 1953 w. THOMAS 2,656,924

SUPPORTING MEANS FOR A- PORTABLE SLUICE Filed Oct. 25, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 7g 1 g I lh 1 I 1 1 1 (so l -J4 I l l l l l i I a2 I i l I l l I I Inventor v By A Harm-y Patented Oct. 27, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE William Thomas, Westwood, Calif.

Application October 25, 1948, Serial No. 56,303

1 Claim. 1

for the continuQus separation of ordinary dirt from mineralized dust.

Another o ject oi? the invention is. the p ovision, of a novel accumulating trough which forms a part of the invention An ther obj ect of the invention is th p vision f a slu ce x formin a part oi he i ention and provided with novel means for angular adjustment thereof.

Another object of he nven i n is the provision of a novel a angem nt oi bat l s in a sl ice box formin a par of the invention.

Ano h r j t of the invention s the provisi n. in an apparatus of. the character set iorth. oi an r pum for ass sting in the remo al o nonmetallic dust particles.

A. further bject of the invention s the pr vision oi a n vel adj stabl supporting moans tor a vibratory slui e ox- A. s ll urther ob t of the invent on is the provision of. n. an appa atus 015 the character set ort n vel. means for the conservation oi water n hydrauli minera se rat on! Another object of the invention is the pro-v vision oi n appara us of. he character set. forth hich may e uti ized as a p ospecting app ratus as we l as commerc al dig er and separat r,

other and furthe obiee s or the invention will become appa en irom a r adi g oi he o low ng specification taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which Figure l is a side elevational view of an embodiment of the invention,

Figure 2 is a front elevational view thereof Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-4 of Figure 1,

Figure 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view, partly broken away, of a sluice box forming a Port f the en i n.

5 i a pl view oi Fi -lire t,

Fig re 6 is a ec iona iew aken along lin 1-4. oi Figure Fi r is a vertica e tiona iew oi a ibrator box forming a part or the invention.

Figure 8 is a sectional view taken along line 8-8 of Figure 7,

Figure 9 is a sectional view taken along line 9-9 of Figure 7, and

Figure 10 is a perspective view, partly broken away, of an element of the invention.

Generally there is provided a portable wet or dry separation placer mining machine which includes some of the features and certain improvements over my United States Patent No. 2,405,622 and my copending application for United States Letters Patent bearing Serial No. 725,515. The present invention has a variety of uses. It maybe utilized as a prospecting machine moving from place to place engaged in sampling or it may be used as a stationary plant to which ores may be fed through the use of its own mechanisms. It briefly consists of a wheeled platform at one end of which is mounted an endless conveyor type digger which delivers to ya vibrator box mounted to the rear thereof upon the platform. A removable accumulator box is provided in the lower end of the vibrator box and a removable plug is provided in one end of the accumu lator for use in continuous operations. An endless conveyor has its lower end in the vibrator box and is supported at its upper end by a mast mounted upon the platform. The conveyor delivers to an angular-1y extending sluice box also supported by the mast in a novel and adjustable manner and air and water pumps are mounted upon the platform for uses hereinafter to be set forth. There is also provided an operator's cab at the other end of the platform and a, power plant is provided for operating the apparatus and for moving the vehicle. The appartus may, if desired, secure its power from an outside source.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, there is shown therein a portable placer mining machine comprising a chassis l0 having steering wheels II at the front end thereof and supporting wheels [2 adjacent the rear thereof. Upon the chassis I9 is a platform 13 at the front end of which is mounted a motor housing It and operators cab [5.

The rear end of the platform is recessed and adjacent the recess is provided a pair or upright supporting members It in the upper ends of which is journalled a transversely extending shaft I! to which is aflixed a roller I8 over which an endless digger I9 is entrained. I

The digger is provided with buckets 20 and is also entrained over a roller 2| carried by a shaft 2;, The shaft 22 and the shaft I! are interconnected by a pair of links 28' and hydraulic lacks 24 interconnect the links 23 and the members 16.

Immediately forwardly of the supporting members l6, there is pivotally mounted upon a transversely extending shaft 25 a vibrator box 25 having an upwardly extending portion 2? in which is located a plurality of perforated pipes 28 which are mounted at an angle in the box 26 and which extend downwardly through one side thereof to form connections 2d. The pipes 28 form together what is known in the art as a grizzly.

The body of the box 26 is provided with a vertically extending bulkhead 3t? leaving a passage 3| between the top thereof and the portion 2i and a passage 32 between the bottom thereof and the bottom of the box 26.

The forward upper end of the box 26 is provided with an ear 33 which is interconnected by a link 34 to an eccentrically located position upon a Wheel 35 which is, in turn, driven by a suitable source of power, preferably within the housing Hi.

A mast 3G is centrally located upon the p1atform 13 and a sluice support 3? is revolubly mounted upon the upper end of the mast. A rearwardly extending boom 38 is pivotally mounted upon a pin 39 which extends upwardly from the support 3?. The boom is provided with a pair of arms it through which transversely extends a shaft t! which extends outwardly from one of the arms 4% and has mounted thereon pulleys i2 and 43.

The shaft I! likewise extends outwardly and has a pulley 3d mounted on such extension. The pulleys 43 and 4 3 are interconnected by a belt do and the pulley 42 is connected by a belt it to a source of power such as a motor in the housing l4.

Upon the shaft 4% is mounted a roller t? over which is entrained an endless conveyor belt 58 which is also entrained over a roller 9 mounted upon a shaft 55] which shaft is interconnected by a pair of links i with the shaft ii. The lower end of the belt lies within the box 26 upon the forward side of the bulkhead 3t and the belt is provided with a series of buckets 52. Links 53 interconnect the sides of the links 55 with the sides of the chassis I5. 7

The support 3'? is provided with a rearwardly extending shelf 54 having mounted thereon a motor 55 whose shaft 56 is interconnected with a wheel 51 by means of a belt 58. Eccentrically connected with the wheel is one end of a link 59 the other end of which is connected to a dependant ear ti? carried by the rearward end of a sluice 6| which extends downwardly and forwardly and which is provided with a pair of dependant lugs 82 at its center of gravity.

A collar 63 is affixed to the mast 3t and is interconnected with the lugs 52 by means of an hydraulic jack Outwardly extending from the sluice 6! at points adjacent the rear end thereof is a pair of pins 65 which lie within vertical slots 66 formed in the sides of the support 31. The sluice 6! is provided with a plurality of spaced, inverted. L-shaped transversely extend-.

rectangular in cross section and which is p-rovided with an elongated slot 12 in its upper side and which extends transversely of the box 26.

' extended portion 27 of the vibrator box 26 whereupon the grizzly pipes 28 will operate to spray water into the incoming ore. It is to be understood that the connections 29 will be supplied with water from the water pump 70 through connections notshown. The thus wetted ore is thoroughly agitated within the box 26 through the motion of the link 34 and its attendant mechanism and in the course of such agitation the gold bearing-particles will settle-to the bottom of the box 26 and pass through the slot 72 into the collector box ll. During continuous operation of the apparatus, the plug l lmay be removed and a constant stream of metallic bearing ore may be collected from the unplugged opening. It will be seen that the lower end of the conveyor .48 lies within the forward portion of the agitator box and forwardly of the bulkhead 30.

It will also be understood that the conveyor 48 is designed to remove dirt from the box 26 at a greater rate than the same is delivered thereto by the digger 19. Hence, the conveyor 43 will remove the lighter portions of the ore, that is to say that ore from which the metal bearing portion has been removed by agitation as it passes through the passage 3!. It will also remove that portion of the ore rising from the passage 32. The con.-

veyor 48 delivers its load to the rearward end of.

the sluice iii which is agitated by the link 59 and its attendant mechanisms. It will be seen that the angle at which the sluice 6! lies may be regulated by the hydraulic jack 64 and that, regard-.

less of the position of the sluice 6| the pins 65 are enabled to reciprocate in the slots 66. It will also be seen that the sluice may be revolved upon the mast 36 to any convenient position. If the apparatus is used without water the air pump 69 may be used to direct blasts of air through suitable hose connections at convenient places upon the sluice 6! to remove dust therefrom. In this case the baffles t! and 68 may be removed from the sluice. It will also be understood that water may be collected from the sluice and reused by the pump it in localities where there is a scarcity of water.

While but one form of the invention has been shown and described herein, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that many minor modifications may be made without departingfrom the spirit of the invenion or the scope of therethrough and having a vertically extendingv slot in each side thereof communicating with said passage, an elongated sluice extending through said supporting sluice, a guide pin ex tending laterally from each side of said sluice adjacent the inner end thereof and each positioned in one of said slots, a platform affixed to said 9 sluice support, a motor mounted on said. platform, a wheel connected. to the motor, a link having one end eccentrically connected. to the Wheel and having its other end connected to the inner end of said sluice, a dog affixed to the bottom of the sluice at approximately its center of gravity, a collar afiixed to the mast, and a jack interconnecting said collar and said dog.

WILLIAM THOMAS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Number Name Date Wilfley May 19, 1914 Beardsley Mar. 30, 1920 Bouwer Apr. 10, 1945 Thomas Aug. 13, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain of 1908 Australia May 17, 1934 

